"HEMERA" IS A DEITY WHO COMES TO US FROM THE EARLIEST CREATION MYTHS. WAS THE GREEK GODDESS OF THE DAY, THE FEMALE PERSONIFICATION OF DAYLIGHT. "IT WAS HER JOB TO PULL AWAY NIGHT TIME VEILS OF HER FATHER. SHE WAS A DAUGHTER OF" NYX ", GODDESS OF THE NIGHT, AND "EREBUS", GOD OF DARKNESS AND SHADOW. SHE AND HER MOTHER SHARED A HOME BEYOND THE "HORIZON OF TARTARUS "(THE LOWEST REGION OF THE WORLD), BUT THEY RARELY SAW EACH OTHER IN IT. TWICE EACH DAY "HEMERA" AND "NYX "WOULD PASS AT BRASS GATES OF THE "OTHERWORLD," WAVING FROM THEIR CHARIOTS AS ONE WENT HOME AND THE OTHER ROSE TO THE SKY.

IN THE EVENING "NYX" DREW A VEIL OF DARKNESS BETWEEN THE SHINING ATMOSPHERE OF THE "AITHER" AND THE LOWER AIR OF EARTH, THUS BRINGING THE NIGHT TO MAN. THEN, WITH EACH MORN, "HEMERA" WOULD DISPERSE NIGHT'S MISTS, BATHING THE EARTH AGAIN IN THE SHINING LIGHT OF HEAVEN ("AITHER"). IN THE ANCIENT COSMOGONIES NIGHT AND DAY WERE SUBSTANCES DISTINCT AND QUITE INDEPENDENT FROM THE SUN. THE GREEK MAIDENS AND YOUTHS DANCE TOGETHER WHEN "HEMERA", THE "GODDESS" OF DAY, APPEARS BRINGING WITH HER THE HEAT OF NOON.

"HEMERA" SHARED A SHRINE WITH "HELIOS" AT "KOS", PERHAPS IN HELLENISTIC TIMES, BUT FROM THE CLASSICAL PERIOD ONWARD, THE ATTRIBUTES OF HEMERA WERE LATER ABSORBED BY EOS THE GODDESS OF THE DAWN.